Fleming, in a letter to The Guardian in 1958, said that when he tasted a Vesper for the first time 'several months' after including it in his novel, he found it 'unpalatable'. Just as the character Vesper Lynd dies in Casino Royale, the cocktail named for her makes no appearance in any of Fleming's later Bond novels. And Bond alludes to this by praising his cocktail's name as 'very appropriate to the violet hour when my cocktail will now be drunk all over the world'. He had encountered the term at evening drinks when a butler announced: 'Vespers are served.' Fleming adapted this pun on the name of the religious observance normally held about sunset, ' Vespers'. It was devised by his friend Ivar Bryce as evidenced by the words Fleming inscribed in Bryce's copy of Casino Royale: 'For Ivar, who mixed the first Vesper and said the good word.' Naming a cocktail the Vesper was Fleming's idea though he drew inspiration from someone else's joke. Later in the novel, after being introduced to the beautiful Vesper Lynd, Bond tells Vesper that his search for a name is over if she will permit him to name the drink after her. I'm going to patent it when I think of a good name.īond deems the result 'excellent' and calls it a 'special martini'. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. In Ian Fleming's Casino Royale, the first of his works to feature James Bond, Bond orders a dry martini in a 'deep champagne goblet' but then changes his order and gives the barman a recipe. Fleming's Bond calls it a 'special martini', and though it lacks the vermouth that defined a martini in Fleming's day it is sometimes called a Vesper martini. The drink was popularized by author Ian Fleming (1908–1964) in his 1953 novel Casino Royale in which the character James Bond invents the recipe and names the cocktail. Since that form of Lillet is no longer produced, modern bartenders need to modify the recipe to mimic the original taste, with Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano as a typical substitute. The Vesper is a cocktail that was originally made of gin, vodka, and Kina Lillet.

† Vesper recipe at International Bartenders Association Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes. Cocktail originally made of gin, vodka and Kina Lillet Vesper IBA official cocktail

Vesper martini quote casino royale